Kung Fu Panda: Rewritten
by Mind Assassin
Summary: I just got to thinking about Jai and wondered what the movie would be like with him in it. So I'm rewriting the movie with an OC similar to Jai. I've also decided to go past the movie, so we get to see what happens next. Tigress/OC, Po/Viper, maybe more.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Yeah I'm rewriting the movie big whoop wanna fight about it? Anywho I'm rewriting the movie cause I got to thinking about my OC Jai from my other stories, and what it would be like if he were in the movie. So for purposes of this story I'm creating a new OC similar to Jai, but he is not Tigress' brother, he is unmarried, and he is a childhood friend of Po's who left to further his skills in Kung Fu. He returns during the movie, and you'll just have to wait and see what happens next. I'll tell you this much, I'm pairing him with Tigress, and Po with Viper. So, with that out of the way, on with the story!

* * *

_A very young Po slept in the branches of a tree in the woods just outside the Valley of Peace. It was a warm, bright, and sunny day. Birds sang him a lullaby to music made by the wind and leaves. The river told him a story to help him sleep. His sleep, however, was disturbed when he heard shouts coming from nearby. He climbed down from his perch in the tree and followed the sounds. When he reached the source he saw a small black panther cub, probably about his age, give or take a little. The other cub was fighting with a tree. The bark had been stripped away in places from his punches and kicks. Po approached him, "What are you doing?"_

_The cub looked away from the tree and stopped in the midst of another strike. He turned his eyes toward Po and gave a friendly smile, "Just practicing." He went back to fighting the tree._

"_Practicing what?" Po walked closer._

"_Kung Fu." He didn't stop this time._

"_What's Kung Fu?"_

_He looked to Po again, "You've never heard of Kung Fu?"_

_Po shook his head._

"_It's an art, a method of self defense. Would you like me to teach you a little bit about it?"_

"_Sure,"

* * *

_

He walked into the Mr. Pings noodle shop. After all these years it was exactly as he remembered, the smell of broth, the white stone walls, the sound of Po falling out of his bed in the morning and rattling the entire establishment. He rolled his eyes, Po was apparently still his goofy, and clumsy, self. He walked up to the counter. The goose behind it was hurriedly dicing vegetables and had his back to him, "Ping, it's been awhile." Ping turned around, and his beak dropped.

"Po! Po, come down here, there's someone her that would like to see you!" Ping shouted excitedly.

"Coming." Po made his way down the steps and into the kitchen. When he came into the room, which was much too small for him, he was speechless.

"Po," He walked up to him, "you have no idea how good it is to see you again."

"Zhan?"

"The one and only."

Po abruptly took him into a tight embrace, "Great to see you again!"

Zhan heard bones cracking, "Po. crushing. me."

"Oh," Po let him go, "Sorry."

Zhan chuckled, "Good to see that you haven't lost your strength, it'll come in handy soon."

"Whatta you mean?"

"What? Now don't tell me you've forgotten my promise, because I haven't."

Po gasped, "Wait, you mean, really, you're teaching me Kung Fu!" Po tried to jump with joy and hit his head.

"I told you that once I had learned all I could I would come back and pass it on to you, did I not?"

"Dude, you, are, awesome!" He tried to hug him again.

Zhan pushed him back, "Sorry, but I don't think my ribs can handle another bear hug."

"Right, but you're still awesome."

"I know. Now, I believe we have some catching up to do, so why not do it over lunch." They fixed two bowls of noodle soup and Zhan and Po found a booth in the corner of the restaurant to sit in. Po didn't have much to tell Zhan, but Zhan had the most fascinating tales of Kung Fu, and how he had traveled all across China learning the art. While they were talking two geese entered. They both turned their attention to the geese that entered the restaurant, they were posting some sort of notice at the entrance. When the patrons read what it said they quickly left. Po and Zhan shared a glance and went to read it.

"No way, Oogway's giving out the Dragon Scroll?!" They said it simultaneously, but with Zhan it was more of a question, and for Po it was more of an exclamation.

Po grabbed Zhan and shook him, "We've gotta get to the Jade Palace."

He pushed Po's hands off him, "That's convenient, I was going to go to the Jade Palace after I stopped by here anyway." They both started to walk off.

"Wait!" Ping shouted, "Po, don't forget your noodle cart. The whole valley will be there, and you'll sell noodles to all of them." He came out of the kitchen with said cart.

Po groaned, but didn't protest. He took hold of the noodle cart and he and Zhan walked to the steps of the Jade Palace. Po looked up at them, his jaw dropped, and his eye twitched.

Zhan looked at Po, he knew it would take Po a thousand days to make it up the thousand steps, and he, kind hearted as he was, wasn't going to wait on him, "Well, I hate to do this to you Po, but, see you at the top." He began his ascent.

"Hey! Wait up!" Po shouted after him as he tried to drag the cart up the steps.

At the top of the stairs Zhan looked into the arena, and at the crowd that had gathered. He really didn't want to try and make his way through them. So instead of entering by traditional means, he jumped up onto the wall of the palace, and then onto the top of the gate. He slid down to the edge, laid back, and made himself comfortable.

A little later, Po finally made it to the top of the steps, he had to leave the noodle cart behind. As he made the last step up to the palace, the gates closed, effectively barring him from the show.

* * *

A/N: This will probably be the shortest chapter I will write for this story. I'm going to try to make my chapters a little longer than usual for purposes of this story. I'm still adhering to my usual thousand word minimum, but I'm writing the thousand word chapters first, and then going back and adding flashbacks to lengthen them up, oh and yes my signature flashbacks will not be forgotten. Usually I would count the flashbacks as part of that thousand word minimum, but now I'm counting those separately from the rest of the chapter, save for this first one. Hope that made sense. Also, if I don't describe scenes that were in the movie, Po's dream for example, it's because they were in the movie and you just need to watch that if you want to see them again. I'm only going into detail on parts of the movie that I'm changing for purposes of this story. So scenes like Po's dream, Po's training with Shifu, or what the residents of the Jade Palace are up to before Po gets there, will remain the same. I think that covers everything I had to say. See you soon!

P.S. I swear I have not forgotten about New Beginning, I would not post a story if I did not intend to finish it.


	2. The start of something new

_Zhan and Po were playing a game of mahjong. They talked about many things, and never stayed on one subject for long. Zhan seemed conflicted throughout the game, and it didn't escape Po's notice, "Are you feeling okay?" He asked, "You seem depressed."_

_Zhan sighed, "Po, I really can't think of any way to break this to you easily, so I'll just say it. I'm leaving the valley."_

_Po looked up from the game board and his jaw dropped, "What!? You can't leave!"_

"_Po, this is something I just have to do. I want to learn more, and I can't do that here, not unless Shifu agrees to teach me, and I don't see that happening anytime soon. So I'm leaving to train with other masters and to learn all I can about Kung Fu."_

"_But you're my best friend, you have been since we were little. What am I supposed to do with you gone?"_

"_Look Po, I promise I'll make this up to you. How about this, I'll leave to better my skills in Kung Fu, but I'll be back, and when I do get back, I'll pass my knowledge to you."_

"_You mean you'll teach me Kung Fu?"_

"_I promise I will."_

_Po thought it over, "Well if you really want to go, I couldn't stop you any way, so if you'll teach me Kung Fu, I won't try to."_

"_So we have a deal?"_

"_We have a deal."

* * *

_

"Citizens of the Valley of Peace!" Shifu proclaimed, "I present to you, Monkey, Mantis, Viper, Crane, Tigress, The Furious Five!" They each jumped high into the air and landed in the arena as their names were called.

Crane's performance was up first. A few of the palace servants brought two dragon heads loaded with fireworks into place on the sides of the arena. Crane hovered a little off the arena floor as he waited for them to fire.

Po looked up into the sky as Crane flew up dodging, catching, and deflecting the rockets, "Whoa," He walked back to get a better view, and he fell halfway down the stairs. When he finally climbed back up the show was almost over, and he still wasn't in. He looked around him and saw a batch of fireworks.

Tigress was up last. She quickly caught Zhan's eye, but as she was about to give her performance Oogway lifted his hand, "I sense the Dragon Warrior is among us." The five lined up in the arena and Oogway walked down to them. Everyone heard a shout and looked to the sky. There was a large series of explosions, from fireworks, and Po landed in front of Tigress in the arena.

"That looked painful." Zhan jumped down into the arena and rushed to Po's side. He pulled him up, "You okay big guy?"

Po was disoriented. He held his head and regained his focus. He saw Oogway pointing at him, "Huh, oh, sorry I just wanted to see the Dragon Warrior."

Tigress stepped forward, "Master, are you pointing at me?"

"No, him." Oogway kept pointing at Po.

"Him?" Zhan and Tigress said simultaneously.

"Me?" Po was equally surprised.

Zhan gave Oogway a very confused look, "But I wasn't even going to start teaching him Kung Fu for a few more days."

Oogway leaned on his staff and looked to him, "Oh, you were going to teach him? Interesting, What are your names?"

"I'm Zhan and this is Po."

"I see, Zhan, would you come with me?" Oogway started to walk off.

Zhan shared a glance with Po before following him, and four geese came and carried Po to the Hall of Warriors.

While Po was in the Hall of Warriors with Shifu Oogway led Zhan to the kitchen. He began to prepare a pot of tea while he spoke with Zhan, "So you were going to teach Po Kung Fu were you?"

Zhan felt a little uncomfortable in the presence of the great Master Oogway, "Um, yes, yes I was."

"Do you believe yourself qualified to teach the Dragon Warrior."

"Well, are you sure that Po is the Dragon Warrior. I mean it could've just been an accident."

"There are no accidents."

"Right," He sighed, "Master Sun Bear said that as well."

"Oh, you've trained under Master Sun Bear?"

"I've trained under many different masters, I've traveled across all of China learning all I could about Kung Fu. In fact I was going to request your permission to train here next."

"Well I'll let Shifu decide if he wishes to train you, and if he does, you can help him train Po as well." A goose walked by the kitchen, "Zeng, would you lead our guest to the training hall? I believe you'll find Shifu there."

"Of course, Master Oogway." Zeng bowed to him, then led the panther to the training hall.

They arrived at the training hall just as Shifu and Po did. "Master Shifu." Zhan approached them as Zeng walked off.

Shifu looked to the panther, "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I wish to train here, under you, and if you agree I can help you in training Po as well."

"I see." Shifu looked over him, "Well, you look like someone who knows a thing or two about Kung Fu. Have you had previous training?"

Po scoffed, "You kiddin? He's been all around China learnin about Kung Fu."

"Is that so, well then, let's see what the two of you can do." He walked into the training hall with Zhan and Po in tow. As they entered they saw the Five training on the course. Tigress decimated one of the swinging clubs and sent debris flying towards them. Zhan dodged, but Po got hit in the face with a piece. "Can you two handle that?" Shifu said to the both of them.

"I'm sure I can." Zhan stated, "And Po probably could if you put a cookie at the end."

"Hey!" Po glared at him.

"Sorry big guy, but it's the cold hard truth."

The Five jumped off of the training course and over to the three of them. Po forgot about Zhan's cold hard truth when he saw his idols, "Whoa, the Furious Five, you're all so much bigger than your action figures, except for you Mantis, you're about the same."

Mantis chirped in annoyance.

Zhan looked over Tigress, and paid little attention to the others. She caught him and sent a menacing glare his way. He just smirked.

"So why don't we get started." Said Shifu, "Which one of you would like to run the course first?"

Zhan cast a sidelong glance at Po who nervously looked at the course before him. He knew Po couldn't handle it so he took the liberty.

Zhan jumped onto the spinning dragons, easily keeping his balance as he moved from one to the other smashing the swinging clubs along the way. When those were gone he jumped up and did a back flip through one of the spiked rings that Monkey practiced on, and landed on the Jade tortoise. Arrows and knives flew at him and he caught, dodged, or deflected each one. When that was over he jumped into the midst of the wooden warriors. He blocked each of their attacks and demolished many of them as he fought his way through to the field of flames. There he swiftly, and nimbly dodged the jets of fire that reached up to him, till he reached the end of the course. He jumped up and away from the last of the flames and landed to the side of the training course without a scratch or singe on his person. He walked up to the group, "How was that?"

"Impressive," Shifu told him, "perhaps you would be a worthy student, but there is one more trial I want you to complete." He led them to the courtyard where they had done their performances earlier, "Tigress,"

She walked to one side of the arena.

Zhan walked to the other, "This should be interesting."

Shifu snapped his fingers and Tigress rushed at Zhan with a growl. He sidestepped her strike, but she quickly turned about and was right back on top of him. She was quick, but he was quicker, and she put a lot of power behind her strikes. Which meant that she would quickly wear herself down if he kept dodging. She managed to trip him with her tail, but he did a handspring onto the roof of the stands. She jumped up after him, and they started exchanging blows there. He jumped onto the wall and she followed again. They kept fighting each other as Zhan began jumping from tree to tree with her following. Eventually they had gotten a good distance from the palace and Zhan began to get more offensive. Tigress had worn herself down just as planned. Which made it all to easy for him to catch a punch and twist her arm behind her back, and then do the same with the other. He pushed her down onto the ground and held tight. She struggled fiercely to free herself, but to no avail. She finally stopped fighting him, "Alright, alright, you win." She said dejectedly.

Zhan leaned down close to her, "As nice as it is to hear those words, it doesn't mean I'm letting you go."

"What else do you want from me?"

"A date."

"What!?"

"You seem like a woman of your word. So promise me that you'll go out with me, just once, and if you don't want to do it again, I won't ask you to. I'll even let you decide where we go."

She groaned, "Fine, just once."

"Good." He stroked her tail with his own, causing her to involuntarily purr like a small kitten, then let her go and helped her up.

* * *

A/N: I'd just like to say, that Zhan may not love Tigress yet, he just thinks she's hot, but he will grow to. And the PoXViper romance will be coming up shortly.


	3. Restless night

Tigress and Zhan quickly made their way back to the Jade Palace. The others were still in the courtyard waiting on them.

"Ah," Shifu saw them first, "You're back. How did things go?"

Tigress was about to speak, but Zhan interrupted her, "You've trained your students well Master Shifu. I know when I'm bested, though I do still wish to train at the Jade Palace, if you will allow it."

Tigress looked quizzically at him, but said nothing. Viper was the only one to notice her expression.

"Very well," Shifu spoke, "I suppose I can't expect you to beat my top student just yet. You may train here alongside the Five."

They all walked off, but Tigress pulled Zhan back, "You didn't have to do that."

"Think nothing of it." He replied, "Winning that fight meant much more to you than it did to me. I just wanted to get your attention. Oh, and as for that date, I was thinking tomorrow night, we can go wherever you like." He followed the others.

Tigress did the same after watching him go. Shifu left them to meditate, and the others retired to their rooms. Viper slithered into Tigress' room in the middle of the night. Tigress was sitting on her bed staring at the floor boards. She looked up when Viper came in. Viper slid the door closed behind her, "Could you not sleep?"

"No," Tigress looked back down at the floor, "Could you?"

"No, something's been bothering me."

"What's wrong?"

Viper crawled onto the bed with Tigress, "Did you really win that fight?"

Tigress closed her eyes, she knew that she couldn't fool Viper, "No, I didn't."

"Then why did Zhan admit defeat?"

"Because he knew that winning meant something to me."

"So what does he get out of it."

She looked at Viper, "I promised that I would go out with him tomorrow night."

"Where to?"

"I haven't decided yet. Someplace secluded, I don't want people to see us and start talking. We're only going out once."

"Why only once?"

"What do you mean?"

"He seems like a good match for you. He seems nice enough, he knows a lot about Kung Fu and can hold his own in a fight, and he's hot."

Tigress rolled her eyes, though she couldn't disagree. She hated to admit it but he did seem like he had many traits that she would look for in a male, and she hated even more to admit that she had indeed taken note of his defined pectorals, which were noticeable even through his loose shirt, his strong arms, and his rippling abdomen which was revealed once or twice during their fight, "So what, you expect me to run off and marry him?"

"No, I just want you to be happy, and to give him a fair chance." She slithered out and left Tigress to her thoughts.

Hard as she tried Viper still couldn't sleep, so she went to the kitchen for a warm cup of tea. She found Po there making a very oversized sandwich. He saw her crawl into a seat, "Hey, you couldn't sleep either?"

"Nah, what seems to be keeping you up?"

Po sighed, "Just this whole Dragon Warrior thing. I mean, I don't belong here, you know it, I know it, it's obvious. I've never even taken lessons in Kung Fu, and you guys have been doing this most of your lives. I don't know how Shifu is going to turn me," He grabbed his bulging belly, "into the Dragon Warrior."

"You're too hard on yourself. Oogway seems to believe in you."

"Yeah, but he's the only one."

"Well you'll never know if you can do it till you try. Take me for example, I'm a snake that can't bite. No one thought that I would amount to much more than a ribbon dancer, and I became one of the greatest warriors in China."

"Yeah but look at me, I'm just a big fat panda, and you," He turned to face her wearing a wide fan boy smile, but then quickly and nervously turned back around. He stopped in the middle of his sentence as his face turned a bright red.

Viper managed to understand everything he had left unsaid. _You, you're amazing, talented, graceful, strong, beautiful. _She would have turned the same shade of red were she warmblooded.

"So, um," Po tried to change the subject, "I was just making a midnight snack, can I get you anything."

"I just came to make some tea."

"Allow me." He got out a pot and some tea to boil, when that was on the stove he sat down at the table with his bear sized sandwich.

"So Po, how long have you lived in the valley?"

"All my life. My dad owns a noodle shop here."

"Does he? So did you pick up any culinary tricks from him?"

"You bet. I don't know the secret ingredient to his soup yet, but I know a thing or two. I could cook dinner tomorrow if you'd like."

"That'd be nice. The food we usually eat here is meant to keep you in shape, it really isn't that good though."

"I'll be sure to give everyone a real meal tomorrow."

after awhile the tea whistled. Po took it off the stove and poured a cup for both of them. They sat in silence, Po eating, and Viper sipping her tea, till Zhan walked in. He sat down at the end of the table, "Can no one sleep tonight?"

Po finished the last of his sandwich, "Apparently not."

"Well as long as we're both here, Viper I was hoping I could talk to you."

She looked up from her tea and over to him, "About what?"

"You've been friends with Tigress since you got here haven't you?"

"Yes, since we were both just children. Why?"

"Well then you should know a lot about her, what she likes and dislikes, her favorite foods and colors."

"I'm really not comfortable revealing too much about her."

"I'm not asking you to. I just want to know a few of her favorite foods. I heard you two talking, so you know that I have to make a good impression tomorrow night."

"I see." She looked back down at her tea, she had only just met these two, but she felt that they were trustworthy. Viper looked back up at Zhan, "Alright, so what do you have planned for tomorrow?"


	4. Who's going home with you tonight?

A/N: So sorry it's taken this long for an update, to any of my stories. I assure you however that I have not forgotten about them, and I have most certainly not lost interest. If it makes you feel better the reason I haven't been updating is because I've been working on other stories. I won't post them until all the stories that I have currently posted are complete though. It's tough working on so many at one time. Oh, and you know how I said my signature flashback would not be forgotten in this story, well, it seems that I lied, because I have been forgetting my flashbacks. I'll try to start writing them again soon, but for now I'm just trying to get a satisfactory chapter posted to my stories before I lose my readers, whom I do so adore. Anywho, that's all I have to say for now, so on with the show, err, chapter.

* * *

Morning came, the gong rang, and the Five rushed to their bedroom doors to greet their master, "Good morning Master Shifu." They chorused. Po and Zhan were nowhere to be seen.

"Panda!" Shifu threw open the door to Po's room, he was not there. Shifu opened the door to Zhan's room, he was not there either.

"I don't understand why they would just quit." Said Viper as she and the others walked up the steps to the training yard.

"No matter," Shifu told her, "We shall simply resume our training and hope that in time, the true dragon warrior will reveal himself." He opened the doors and saw Po, "What are you doing here!"

Po was doing a split on two bamboo beams, "Oh, ah, just warming up." He feigned stretching.

"You're stuck."

"What? Me, no, nah, yeah, I'm stuck."

Shifu pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something under his breath.

"Po," Zhan was resting on the wall surrounding the yard, "did you really think you could do a full split in one night?"

"Well I figured it wouldn't hurt to try."

"I see how that philosophy turned out." Zhan didn't move from the wall.

Seeing that Zhan had no intention of helping his friend Shifu sent Crane to do it, "Help him."

"Oh dear," Crane muttered. He stepped up next to Po and pulled him off of the bamboo beams.

"Thanks," Po stood up from the ground.

"Don't mention it."

"No really,"

Crane interrupted him, "Ever,"

Shifu looked at the panda like a king would look down on a peasant, though Shifu was looking up at him, "It takes years to develop one's flexibility," He threw two tiles into the air, "and years longer to apply it in combat." He snapped his fingers and Tigress jumped into the air and smashed the tiles, doing a perfect split, and landed gracefully.

Po found it to be an incredible feat.

Zhan found it incredibly attractive.

Po picked up a piece of the broken tiles.

"Put that down!" Shifu yelled at him, "The only souvenirs we collect here are bloody knuckles and broken bones!" Amazingly Po was only more excited after hearing this. Shifu was not pleased with this. "Zhan!" He looked up to the panther on the wall

"Yes?" Zhan looked back at him.

"Why don't you see how your friend handles himself in a fight."

Zhan hopped down from the wall and looked to Po, "You ready?"

Po took a rather pathetic excuse of a fighting stance, "I was born ready."

Even before that last word left his mouth Zhan was on him. He kicked him into the air, jumped up, and flung him into the ground again, "Sorry Po, but you said you were ready."

"That, was, awesome!" Po put his fist against his palm.

Shifu scowled. For the remainder of that day Po was used as a practice dummy by the Zhan, Shifu, and the Five, save for Tigress, Shifu only wanted to scare him off, not kill him.

Eventually night fell, and while Po was with Viper and Mantis, and Crane was painting while Monkey meditated, Tigress slipped out of the sleeping quarters to meet Zhan in the courtyard. He was waiting for her, "You're here, good. I know I said I'd let you choose where we went, but I found a wonderful place that I'd like to go to, if it's alright with you."

"Whatever," She walked up to him, "let's just get this over with."

"Follow me." He jumped over the wall of the palace and she followed. He led her to a place outside of the village, in the forest around it. It was a small lake where the moonlight glistened off the clear clean water.

Tigress looked around and saw that Zhan had prepared a picnic, lit by candles. She followed him to the area he had prepared for them and saw what food he had brought, it was all inside of a basket that was designed to keep it warm, and she was surprised to find some of her favorite foods there, crab rangoon, crispy wontons, spring rolls, teriyaki chicken, dumplings stuffed with shrimp and vegetables, and more, and for dessert there was a very sweet birds nest soup. He also had a bottle of wine for them to drink.

Tigress began to salivate as she smelled the sweet aroma of all the foods, "Did you cook all of this?"

He poured two glasses of wine and handed her one, "I did."

"You don't strike me as much of a chef." She sat down on the cloth that was laid out on the grass, and suddenly felt very hungry.

"I've spent most of my life on my own, so there were certain skills I had to learn in order to survive. Cooking was one of those skills." He sat down with her.

"Why have you spent most of your life on your own?"

"It's a long story, but the short version is that my parents died when I was very young, and I was raised by various Kung Fu masters."

"I'm sorry to hear that, I never knew my parents. I grew up in Bao Gu." Her ears laid back against her head.

"Is that so? Well, it does seem to have worked out for both of us. You've become one of the most famed, revered, and respected Kung Fu masters in China, and I've traveled all across the country, meeting new people, honing my skills, and seeing all there is to see."

"True, though I still wonder what my life would be like if I had grown up with them. I wonder what happened to them, if they're still out there, if they even wanted me." She stared at her reflection in the glass.

"Would you like my honest opinion?"

Tigress looked up to him curiously.

He sighed, not sure how she would react to what he was about to say, "I can't say what your life would be like if you had grown up with them, but I'm sure they wanted you, but for one reason or another they couldn't care for you. They left you in Bao Gu because they loved you, and I'm sure that you've made them proud, though if they were out there, I think they would have come to you by now."

She took a sip of the wine, "Maybe...but there's really no use in dwelling on it. So what did you bring to eat?"

He smiled and began to pull their meal out of the basket one item at a time.

* * *

A/N:Sorry it was so short, but I've already begun work on the next chapter, so hopefully you won't have to wait too long for that.


	5. If you only knew

Tigress and Zhan eventually made their way back to the bunkhouse early the next morning. They had eaten everything Zhan had packed, and drank the entire bottle of wine. Since neither of them were prone to drink much alcohol they were a bit tipsy as they made their way back, laughing and still talking. When they reached their rooms in the bunkhouse, which were directly across from one another, they stood in the hallway for a moment longer. "I had a great time." Tigress admitted, were the alcohol not loosening her tongue she would have been much more reluctant to do so.

"Would you like to do it again sometime?" Zhan was quite eager to recreate the night.

"Sure," She yawned, "but we'll have to discuss it tomorrow. For now, I'm tired."

"I understand, I do hope that we can spend another night like this together soon though."

"Good night." Tigress stepped into her room and fell onto her bed.

Zhan did the same shortly thereafter.

The sun rose on a new day, and the gong rang again. Tigress and Zhan cringed at the sound, their heads pounding from the hangover they both experienced. The rest of the Five greeted their master as usual. Shifu was prepared not to see Po or Zhan again, but he was surprised when Tigress didn't come to her door. He opened it and saw her sitting on the edge of her bed, with ears flat and rubbing her eyes. "Tigress," He asked, "are you feeling alright?" He approached her.

"Hm?" She looked up from the ground to him, not that the distance from the ground to his face was that great, "Oh, yes, master, I'm fine."

"You don't look it." He stated, and he was right. Her fur was a mess, she had fallen asleep still in her clothing and hadn't had a chance to change yet, her eyes were blood shot, she looked rather fatigued, and one could tell how her head was hurting.

"You can thank me for that." Zhan stepped out of his room, the only difference between him and Tigress at the moment was that his clothes were fresh and clean, "Don't worry though, I know a few good remedies for a hangover."

"A hangover?" Shifu looked from Tigress to Zhan, and back again. When Zhan's words sunk in Shifu's worry changed to anger, "Tigress, you mean to tell me that you were out getting drunk last night?"

Tigress held her head, "Must you talk so loudly?"

Shifu had a hard time believing that his top student would do something so irresponsible, but his disbelief quickly added to his anger, "Tigress, how could you do something so...so..." Shifu was furious as he tried to find the right words to chastise her.

He really didn't need to say anything though. Tigress was already looking towards the floor sullenly. It didn't escape Zhan's notice. He looked away from Tigress and switched his focus to Shifu, "Calm down you old rodent."

All of the Five, including Tigress, looked at Zhan in shock. Shifu looked to him now seething with anger, "What did you say to me?"

Zhan smirked, "I thought the old rodent comment would get your attention. Now if you would kindly stop yelling, and carry on a civil conversation with me, I would be happy to explain exactly what went on last night."

"Who do you think you are talking to!"

"I think I'm talking to the least tranquil Kung Fu master I've ever met, and I've met a great many Kung Fu masters. Just calm yourself Shifu, there's no reason to get upset."

"I have..."

Zhan cut him off, "When you're angry your judgment is clouded, your vision becomes hazy, and you simply don't think straight. Go talk to Oogway, he'll tell you same thing, and while you're cooling off I'm going to prepare the remedies I mentioned." He looked to Tigress again, "Meet me in the kitchen whenever your ready to do something about that headache." He walked off towards the kitchen, and Shifu stomped off in the opposite direction, presumably to talk to Oogway. The Five all watched Zhan go. Save for Tigress who just sat on her bed and smiled, and then began to get changed.

Zhan ran into Po preparing breakfast in the kitchen, "The Ping family's famous noodle soup I presume." He would recognize the smell of that soup from a mile away.

"Yep, I know it's not exactly a customary breakfast, but the Five have never tried it before."

"I'm sure they'll be pleasantly surprised. " He filled a teapot with water and put it on the stove next to Po's noodles.

"So how's your morning been?" Po searched the cabinets for a few spices.

"It's getting better." Zhan found the tea leaves and put them in the pot.

"And what about last night?"

Zhan smiled, "That went quite well, much better than expected."

"Did she say anything about doing it again?"

He crushed up a few berries and put them in the pot as well, "She did actually, we haven't discussed exactly when or where yet though."

Po recognized the berries and other ingredients he was adding to the tea, "Hangover?"

"I can never thank you enough for teaching me this recipe."

Po chuckled, "I figured you'd need it. I've seen what a lightweight you are."

"Hey, we weren't drunk, just intoxicated." They both laughed at the inside joke, "And besides, it's not my fault I can't keep up with you. I'm smaller and it takes less to get me falling down and passing out."

"You didn't really pass out did you?"

"Not until we were in our rooms."

"So you do remember everything that happened last night?"

"Yes, quite well, and I must say it was a rather spectacular night." Zhan smiled fondly.

"You didn't...you know."

He looked to him curiously, then the implication sunk in, "Oh, no, no no no, sober or not I think we both have more self control than that."

"Good, cause I'm pretty certain Shifu would have to kill you if he found out about something like that."

Zhan took a seat at the table once he was done adding ingredients to the tea, "I think he might kill me anyway."

"Why would he do that." Po looked over his shoulder at Zhan while he stirred the noodles.

"I called him an old rodent."

His jaw dropped, "Why?" He drug out the word to emphasize what a stupid move that was.

"He found out that Tigress and I were drinking last night and he overreacted. I didn't want him to punish her for something that was my fault so I redirected his anger towards me."

Po turned back to his cooking, "I gotta say that takes a lot of guts to stand up to someone like Shifu, and it was pretty noble of you to try and protect Tigress like that."

"She told me a lot about growing up with him last night. Everyone knows that she's been here training for most of her life, but did you know that Shifu actually adopted her?"

"Really? I always thought that her parents put her under Shifu's care for one reason or another."

"No, she never knew her parents. She grew up in Bao Gu till Shifu came and adopted her. So he's the only father figure she's ever had, but from what she told me it doesn't sound like he's ever treated her like a daughter, just a student."

"Sounds like you could relate. I mean you were too young to even remember your parents when they died, so you've only had Kung Fu masters for as long as you can remember."

"Yes, but while my masters were not my parents, and never tried to be them, they at least respected me. From what she told me he's always kept his distance from her, never getting close, never giving her credit for her accomplishments, and never offering words of praise or encouragement. He's always focused on her flaws, always belittled her, and chastised her for the tiniest mistakes."

"How can he be like that? I mean she's Master Tigress, the leader of the Furious Five, how can he not say he's proud of that."

"I think it has something to do with Tai Lung. You know the story as well as I do. He treated him like a real son, offering all the love and praise he could, but he still turned on him. My guess is that Shifu thought treating him like a son was his mistake, so he sought to distance himself from Tigress, or maybe he just couldn't bare to be hurt like that again, so he's kept himself from getting too emotionally attached to her."

"Maybe, but still, after all she's accomplished he could at least say he's proud of her."

"I know. I wonder if she's even heard the words 'I love you' from him or anyone for that matter, well anyone who really meant it, not like all the crazed fans of the Five. Who have her poster above their bed, and all their action figures, and trading cards of all the Five, and more posters around their room..."

"Yeah okay I get it, crazed fanboy here." Po rolled his eyes.

Zhan chuckled.

There was a moment of silence, "Have you ever heard those words? That you can remember anyway?"

Zhan stared at the table for a while, then sighed. He was about to answer when the tea whistled. He took it off the stove, and then Tigress walked in, along with the rest of the Five.

"What smells so good?" Viper asked, flicking her tongue to take in the aroma.

"Breakfast." Po took seven bowls from one of the cabinets and served everyone at the table, plus himself and Zhan, and Zhan poured himself and Tigress a cup of the tea he had made.

"That should help get you back on your feet." He told her.

Tigress took a sip of it, she hummed in approval, "This is good, what is it?"

"A recipe Po taught me. In his words, he figured I'd need it. It's an assortment of berry and fruit juices, along with honey, mint, and your choice of tea leaves. It does a good job of replenishing the vitamins one loses from consuming alcohol, and soothing the stomach, and it tastes great too."

The Five all tried the noodle soup and hummed their approval for that as well, "Wow Po, this is amazing." Viper expressed everyone's thoughts.

"Thanks, it's a family recipe. You should try my dad's though, he actually knows the secret ingredient." Said Po

Zhan picked up a pair of chopsticks, "Wait till you try his desserts. I know you liked my cooking," He looked to Tigress, "but you haven't lived till you've tried Po's."

Tigress took another drink from her cup, "If it can beat what you made last night then I can't wait to try it."

The rest of the meal was finished with idle conversation, ranging from Kung Fu, to how nice the weather had been lately. Zhan and Tigress kept casting glances at one another, and her cheery mood hadn't escaped her comrades notice. They hadn't seen her so happy in a very long time, but they were certainly glad to see it, and if Zhan could bring this side of her out more often, then they were happy to have him on the team.


	6. One day too late

About the time everyone was finishing the last of their meal, Shifu walked into the doorway of the kitchen, "Zhan, I'd like to speak with you." He must have been talking to Oogway, because his mood was much improved. Tigress and Zhan shared a glance, then he stood from the table and followed Shifu away from the kitchen. "Zhan," Shifu started, "I spoke with Oogway, and he agrees with you. Nothing good will com from getting angry, and perhaps I did overreact." He paused.

Zhan saw that as his opportunity to speak, "Before you continue, I would like to apologize for my behavior. I meant nothing by it, but I didn't want you to berate Tigress for something that was not her fault."

"I see, so why don't you explain exactly what happened between you two last night."

"We had dinner together, nothing more, nothing less. I brought a bottle of wine for us to share, but it seems neither of us are particularly good with alcohol, hence our appearances this morning. Fortunately the remedy I mentioned has taken effect, and we're both as good as new."

"I'm glad to hear that. Well, it seems there was no harm done, and you are both adults, so I won't punish either of you, however, never call me a rodent again. It's terribly inaccurate, I'm a red panda, and not a rodent."

Zhan chuckled, "Alright, but you old red panda, just doesn't sound the same."

Shifu actually laughed a little at that, "Gather the others, and meet me in the training hall. We still need to keep you all in shape."

Zhan bowed to him, then went back to the kitchen. He brought the Five and Po to the training hall as ordered. Shifu was waiting for them, "Ah, good your all here. I believe it's about time we began training our resident Dragon Warrior. So, tell me Po, what prior training do you have."

"Well, none, really." Po stated bluntly.

"He does, however," Zhan emphasized, "have extensive knowledge of the philosophy and teachings of Kung Fu. He just doesn't have any experience in the practice."

"Alright, then that's about to change. Zhan, when you first arrived here you said something about Po's habits that has recently given me an idea. It's painfully obvious that I will not be able to train Po as I have my other students, but perhaps I can use less orthodox methods."

Po gulped.

Shifu chuckled, "Don't worry, I think this training will be perfect for you." Shifu's hands had been behind his back, now he revealed what he had been hiding, an almond cookie.

"So you took my joke about the cookie literally." Said Zhan, "Well, crazy as it sounds, I'd say it's actually not a bad idea."

"I'm glad you agree. Zhan, Panda, come with me to the courtyard, everyone else, run the obstacle and spar as you normally would." Shifu walked out to the courtyard with cookie in hand, and Zhan and Po following. Shifu told them to take their places in the courtyard, they did, and he threw the cookie to Zhan, "Po if you can get the cookie away from him you may have all the almond cookies you want, and Zhan, if you you can keep him from getting the cookie, you and Tigress are both excused from your training tomorrow."

Zhan was surprised, to say the least, at that offer, but he certainly wasn't complaining if it meant Shifu was not only giving him permission to date his daughter, but also giving him the chance to show her the time of her life by letting them both have a day off.

Zhan and Po looked away from Shifu with smiles on their faces, both already thinking of their respective rewards, and they stared each other down for a moment. Zhan took the stance of the panther style, and Po, well he didn't even try to take a stance this time, he just rushed towards Zhan.

Zhan sidestepped his friend and maneuvered behind him. Po quickly turned about and struck out at him with his fists. Zhan skillfully dodged each strike. Po spun around and extended his leg, trying to trip him. Zhan back flipped over his outstretched leg and sprung off his free hand and back onto his feet. He charged at Po this time, and Po ducked under his fist, and dodged his knee kick. He caught his leg and lifted it. Zhan was unprepared for that and fell to the ground, however, he was able to use his tail to trip Po. Zhan was able to quickly and easily jump back to his feet, while Po struggled for a moment to push himself back up.

Zhan came at Po again with a flurry of punches and kicks, but the more Po thought about those almond cookies the easier it was for him to dodge, block, or deflect each and every blow, and the more Po foiled Zhan's attempts to defeat him, the angrier Zhan became. He wanted that day with Tigress, and he wasn't going to let even a long time friend like Po stand in his way, but when he got angry he got sloppy. It's why his first few masters devoted much of their time training him to control his emotions more than anything else. His body could easily move on instinct, but he had to control his emotions, or he would start swinging blindly, and would tire himself out easily. Eventually Po managed to pull him to the ground, and sit on him. Po didn't put all of his wait on his friend, just enough to keep him down.

Zhan struggled to get back up, or even breath under Po's weight. Po reached for the almond cookie, and Zhan quickly threw it into his mouth and ate it. Po looked at him with a mixture of anger and dejection, "Come on, that's not fair." He complained, but he did get off of Zhan.

"Sorry Po, but my goal was just to keep you from getting the cookie." Zhan stood and checked for cracked ribs, fortunately he didn't find any.

"Quite right." Shifu approached them, "Zhan, as promised, you and Tigress will have the day off tomorrow, do with it what you wish. Po, I must say that your performance exceeded my expectations, it seems this method of training will work quite well."

Po looked down at Shifu hopefully, "Can I still have the almond cookies?"

"We shall see."

Later that night everyone was in the kitchen enjoying dinner, crab wontons, courtesy of Zhan and Po. It was a ordinary meal, with everyone talking amongst themselves, and getting to know the two newcomers better, however, halfway though the meal Shifu burst into the kitchen, "Panda! We need to jump start your training! Tai Lung is on his way here and you are the only one who can stop him!"

Everyone gasped and stared at Shifu at this disturbing revalation. "What?" Po asked hysterically, "No, no Master Oogway'll stop him him. He did it before he'll do it again."

"Oogway can not, not anymore." It was then that everyone noticed Shifu was carrying Oogway's staff.

They again gasped at the revelation, "Master," Tigress stood from her seat, "let us stop Tai Lung, Po is not ready yet."

"No! It is not your destiny to defeat Tai Lung, it is his!" He pointed to Po's empty seat, "Where'd he go?"

Halfway down the stairs to the courtyard Po was running for his life, till Shifu and Zhan jumped down in front of him.

They managed to talk him out of his frightened panic, and led him back up the stairs to further his training. The sight of Tigress jumping down into the valley below, with the other four following shortly thereafter, did not escape Jai's notice. He debated going after them. He knew they were going to fight Tai Lung, he didn't know if they could stop him, but if they couldn't, then Po was their last hope.


	7. Cyanide sweet tooth suicide

A/N: Before I begin with this chapter, I'd like to say that I apologize to all of you who were looking forward to the Po/Viper romance. It seems I haven't been able to fit much in thus far. I had planned on doing much more with it, but it just hasn't worked out that way, however, I will definitely be going past the events of the movie, so Po and Viper can become much closer in that time, and I fully intend to bring in more OCs for the other characters. Until then, enjoy the Zhan/Tigress romance. Also I must say that I'm rather proud of this chapter, it may be a bit depressing, and maybe it's not for the faint of heart, but all in all, I find it to be rather well written, and provide some much needed insight into the workings of Tigress' mind. A bit short, but still, very nice if I do say so myself. Well I'll stop wasting your time and let you get on with the story now.

* * *

While Po was training, the Five on their way to the bridge to meet Tai Lung. It was a two day trip, and the whole time all Tigress could think about was Zhan. She had just started to develop a relationship with him, and it was the first real relationship she'd ever had, with anyone. The Five were all her friends, but it never went further than that, she would never allow it. Shifu was her father, but they had never even been close enough to be called friends. Zhan was the first one that she would allow to get close, and she didn't want to lose that all because of one stupid move, but it was too late to turn back now, and the safety of the villagers always had to be her top priority, but why? Why did such a weight have to fall on her shoulders? Why couldn't she just live a normal life, without fighting all the battles and constantly worrying about the village at the foot of the mountain upon which she resided? Why couldn't she have a loving father, and a husband, and children? She would never have admitted it to anyone, not even Viper, but she had always wanted children. She wanted to know what it was like to bring new life into the world, to watch them grow, to nurture them, to love them, and she had always wanted someone by her side. She wanted someone she loved, and who loved her equally. She wanted to know what it felt like to be loved. She wanted to know what it felt like to be happy.

Instead though, she was stuck with this curse. No one else saw it, they all thought that she must be luckiest girl in the world to be leader of the Furious Five, but there was no truth to it. She was reluctant to admit that she did enjoy her time with Zhan, and that she was beginning to feel strongly for him, but that was only because she was afraid, something that she would never admit. She was afraid because she had never felt like this before. In the months that had passed, she felt more and more that she had suffered enough. She grew more and more depressed. She felt that she would never find out what it was like to be loved, or to feel love for anyone. None of her friends knew it, but she had been silently crying herself to sleep almost every night for the last month. She had hardly been eating, she had been so angry at everything and everyone. She took out her frustrations through rigorous training. She was pushing herself harder and harder. Shifu eventually had to step in and take her training down a notch, or several rather, just to make sure she didn't end up hurting, or even killing, herself. Although, and she nearly became ill every time she thought of it, she wasn't sure that the latter would have been so bad.

No one would ever suspect her, Master Tigress, of having such thoughts, but as previously stated, she felt she had suffered enough. She didn't know how much more she could take. Every day her pain grew worse. Every day she grew angrier and more depressed. Every day the thoughts crept into her mind more and more. She was quick to purge them from her head, but it was not long before she couldn't fight them off. She was lucky in that regard though, because as the thoughts peaked, Oogway announced that he would choose the Dragon Warrior. Finally, she thought, she was going to be named the Dragon Warrior. Finally, Shifu would be proud of her. Finally, she would know what it was to be loved, but then the panda fell from the sky.

When Oogway named him the Dragon Warrior instead of her, it took all the inner strength she had left to keep from breaking down right there in the courtyard. She had never cried in front of her friends, and she sure as hell wouldn't cry in front of the villagers or Shifu, and she certainly wasn't going to start then. Still though, it was difficult. She did want so desperately to do it. She passed through the kitchen and glanced at the knives that afternoon. She went to the peach tree to meditate, but ended up just staring at the edge. Even when she was in bed that night she played with her claws, sheathing and unsheathing them, sharpening them, laying them on her wrists and throat. So what kept her from finally doing it? What kept her from finally relieving all the pain, forgetting all the sorrow,and forcing all the anger to melt away, by taking her own life? Honestly? Nothing did. She could have easily done it, and no one would have known till morning. It was pure chance that she didn't do it. She was heartbroken, and she wanted nothing more than to end her own life, which she viewed as worthless, and miserable, but she didn't. She didn't sleep that night, but she was still there the next morning.

She did fully intend to go through with it the next day, but Zhan was right when he said she was a woman of her word. She promised him a date, and she planned on giving it to him, no matter how miserable it was. She went through training that day, she ate, somewhat, and she went to meet him, but what she hadn't counted on, was the fact that she loved it. It was the first time in years that she felt truly happy, the first time in weeks that she had gone to sleep without tears in her eyes, and the first time in months that not one time did any of the thoughts that made her feel so ill intrude her mind. The next morning her headache was a small price to pay for that, but then Shifu came, and he started to reprimand her for it. It brought back all of her ill thoughts, and rotten feelings, even stronger than before. It made her feel that no one wanted her to be happy, not Shifu, not her friends, and not the gods. Then Zhan stood up for her. He stood up to Shifu, and he did it for her. The thoughts and feelings were quickly purged from her mind, body, and spirit. Even if no one else wanted it, perhaps he wanted her to be happy. Perhaps she could be happy with him. Perhaps she would know what it was like to be loved, and to feel love, because of him. Perhaps she could have the life she always dreamed of with him, maybe even cubs, cubs that she could watch grow, and play, and laugh and learn.

Now though, she was going to throw it all away for the sake of the village. It was as if the gods had seen her chance to be happy, and had greedily snatched it away from her. She wanted to say damn the village, damn Shifu, and damn the Dragon Scroll, and run off with Zhan, but she hadn't. So why didn't she? Frankly, it was because her anger had clouded her judgment, and now she had made one stupid move, that could cost her everything. She was angry at Tai Lung. True she had never known him, but still if he hadn't made Shifu's heart so cold, then hers would never have been broken. If Shifu had any love left to give to her, she would have already known what it was like to feel love, and receive it. She wouldn't have cared about the scroll. She wouldn't have to bear this curse, or at least not alone. Hell, she might have even been able to meet a decent suitor, and she would've had cubs, and a husband, and the life she always dreamed of. Now though, it was too late, there was no going back, it was all or nothing, and given how the gods had been so cruel thus far, her odds didn't look good.

They arrived at the bridge and saw Tai Lung running across. They prepared for the fight of their lives.


	8. Dance with the devil

Tigress stared at Tai Lung in disbelief. "Shifu, taught you well," He said, somewhat mockingly, "But he didn't teach you everything." He hit Monkey with some sort of nerve strike, and he fell limply to the ground.

She thought they had actually managed to do it. That they had defeated Tai Lung, but she was dead wrong. Now she watched her comrades fall one by one, till she was the only one left. Tai Lung didn't hit her with the same nerve strike he had used on the others though. He just looked her over for a moment. Tigress couldn't hide the fear in her eyes as she stared back at him.

"You know, I've been under a rock for the last twenty years. So it's been a while since I saw someone quite like you."

Tigress tried to back away a step, but felt nothing but air under her foot. She looked over her shoulder at the cliff behind her.

Tai Lung grabbed her arm and pulled her against his chest while she was distracted, "Someone so, voluptuous."

Tigress gasped as she realized why he hadn't taken her out with a single strike as he did the others. She tried to push away from him, but he was much stronger.

Tai Lung threw her into the dirt behind him, hard. Before she could recover he was on top of her. He pinned her arms to her sides, "And you are indeed, quite a catch." He licked her neck.

Tigress groaned and struggled to kick him off. Her claws dug into the ground as she felt his rough tongue on her fur. As he was lapping at her neck he moved her arms above her head, so that he could hold them both with only one hand. With his now free hand he reached for her vest and tore it off. He discarded the ruined article of clothing. Tigress had tears brimming in her eyes, "Please," She begged as they started to fall, "don't do this."

It only made Tai Lung all the more excited, but as his hand drifted down her chest and to her trousers, he heard a mighty, deep, and rumbling growl.

Zhan dashed up to Tai Lung, and with a growl he slashed his claws across his face. Tai Lung recoiled with a paw on his bleeding cheek. Zhan didn't give him the chance to fight back. He dashed at him again and kicked him in the gut, then gave him an uppercut to the jaw. He continued with a flurry of punches and kicks and slashes, none of which Tai Lung had any opportunity to dodge or block, until eventually he got one strike good enough to knock out the massive snow leopard. By that time Zhan had used up a great deal of energy, and was about ready to pass out himself, but he forced himself to walk back over to Tigress, who was standing by her fallen comrades with arms covering her bare chest, "Are you alright?" He asked as he approached.

She nodded, when he was within arms reach she reached out and put her hands on his shoulders. Then she drew him close and kissed him. She didn't let him go for a long time.

He was surprised, but he wasn't complaining. He just let his hands put themselves on her hips and melted into the kiss. When she finally broke away he looked into her eyes, and at the smile on her face, and asked, "What was that for?"

"I just wanted to know what it was like." She pulled him close again and hugged him. Enjoying the warm and comforting feeling that came from being in his arms, "To kiss someone you love."

"Tigress," Zhan never wanted the moment to end.

"Yes?"

"As much as I'd love to stay like this all day, we still need to get the others back on their feet, and figure out what to do with..." He looked to the spot where Tai Lung was.

"What?" Tigress looked behind her and saw where Tai Lung had been as well. Now though, there was nothing. There were faint indentations in the grass that marked where he had run off.

"We need to get back to the valley." Zhan let go of Tigress. He started to go back to the others so he could wake them up, but then he turned back to Tigress, "Oh, and," He took off his shirt and threw it to her, "you might want that."

She put it on then walked up next to her comrades as Zhan undid the effects of Tai Lung's nerve strike. He got to Viper first. She immediately slithered up to her friend, "Tigress, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, thanks to Zhan." She replied.

"We could still see and hear. We saw what he tried to do. It's a good thing that Zhan came when he did."

"Yes," He said as he finished getting the others back on their feet, "but it was blind luck that I was able to take on Tai Lung. If I hadn't caught him with his guard down I wouldn't have stood a chance. We need to get back to the valley and warn everyone. Hopefully Po will be ready to take the dragon scroll by then, and he can stop Tai Lung."

The others nodded their agreement. They rushed back to the valley as fast as they could once everyone was ready to move again. Fortunately for them, and everyone else, Tai Lung had stopped to recuperate, so they now had a sizable lead in the race back to the valley. They just hoped that they would get there in time. They didn't stop running till night fell. They tried to keep going still, but they couldn't keep up such a pace. They had to stop and rest for the night. They woke up again early in the morning though, so that they could still get to the valley as quickly as possible.


	9. Hopeless

Once back to the valley they raced up the steps to the Jade Palace. They burst through the massive gate and saw Shifu and Po in the courtyard. They ran up to and stopped in front of them, and had to take a moment to catch their breath.

"Where have you all been?" Shifu asked worriedly as they tried to regulate their breathing.

"Tai Lung," Zhan was still recovering from the run, but he did his bet to get the words out, "He'll be here soon. We couldn't stop him. We must, evacuate the valley. Po, you have to stop him."

"Me?" Po asked, not quite believing that he was capable of such a task. "But you're six masters, I'm just one me."

"No, you're the Dragon Warrior." Zhan assured him.

"And you'll have the one thing no one else does." Shifu asserted.

A little later, after Tigress had changed into her normal clothing and given Zhan back his shirt, which was much too big for her, everyone was in the hall of warriors where the Dragon Scroll resided. They stared up at it as Shifu performed an intricate series of movements, almost like a dance, that caused a single flower pedal to float up, and land on the edge of the scroll. It fell down and Shifu caught it with Oogway's staff just before it fell into the waters of the Moon Pool. He held it out to Po.

Po took it from him, "So what happens when I read it?"

"No one knows." Explained Shifu, "But legend has it, that you will be able to see light in the darkest cave, and hear a butterfly's wing beat."

"Whoa, that's cool." Po had a large stupid grin on his face, "Can I punch through walls..." He started to list other things that he thought would be cool.

"Panda, focus."

"Oh right, sorry." Po tried to open the scroll's container, to no avail, "It's impossible to open."

Shifu held out a hand.

By this time Po was trying to open it with his teeth. He stopped when he saw Shifu's hand and gave it to him. He was easily able to open it. "Thanks." Po mumbled that he had loosened it for him.

He took out the scroll, and opened it slowly. As he did so the others could see the scroll shining brightly. When Po had it fully opened he stared at it for a moment, before saying, "It's blank."

"What?" Shifu wasn't sure he heard him correctly.

"Yeah, here look." Po tried to show him.

"No, no," Shifu turned his head away, "I'm forbidden," Without finishing that sentence Shifu snatched the scroll away from Po, "Blank," He opened and closed it a few times, "but, I don't, understand."

"Ok, so Oogway was just some crazy old turtle after all."

"No, Oogway was wiser than us all." Shifu tried desperately and futilely to figure out the mystery of the Dragon Scroll.

"But if Po can't stop Tai Lung," Zhan looked about to everyone in the room, "who can?"

Shifu sighed, "Get the villagers to safety, I'll hold him off."

"Are you nuts?" said Po, "He'll kill you."

"I know. Students," He looked to the Five, "it has been an honor to serve as your master."

He bowed to them, and they returned the gesture. Then everyone but Shifu walked off and down to the village.

Viper and Mantis gathered the villagers to the north and south, and Crane lit the way. Tigress and Zhan stayed together to gather the rest of the village.

They got all of them to follow Crane away from the village, and brought up the rear to see to it that there were no stragglers. They were especially vigilant when it came to watching out for the children, who would quickly become tired and slow down. As they walked Tigress and Zhan spoke to one another.

"Tigress," Zhan called her attention.

She had been watching the ground, lost in thought. His voice brought her back into reality, "Yes?"

"At the bridge, you said...you said you loved me, but, did you mean it."

"Of course. I wouldn't lie about something like that."

"But are you sure, I mean are you sure that it's me you're in love with and not just what I did for you."

She sighed, "Zhan, I would never tell anyone else this, but you're the first thing in my life that's made me truly happy since the day Shifu adopted me from Bao Gu."

"What do you mean?"

"For the last month or so, every night, until the night that we had our date, I've been crying myself to sleep, and every day I considered leaving this world in favor of the next." She looked away from him.

Again, Zhan was shocked, to say the least, at hearing this. He quickly moved closer to her and put his hands on her shoulders as they walked, "Tigress, you can't be serious. You wouldn't really consider suicide would you?"

She nodded, "I did, every day. The night we had our date, I was going to go through with it, but then I went to meet you, and you showed me such a wonderful night, and everything changed." She looked back up at him and smiled, "And when I kissed you, I've never felt anything like that before. It was just incredible." She laid her head on his shoulder and nuzzled him affectionately, "I know it's too soon to say it, but I do love you."

Zhan smiled wide as her warm fur caressed his, "Well, if you insist." He put an arm around her as they walked and continued to nuzzle one another.


	10. And here, we, GO!

A/N: So sorry it's taken this long for an update to this story, but as I've said before, I just have too many stories in the works right now, and I can only focus on one at a time. Don't worry though, as long as a story continues to get reviews I will finish it, and this story, and New Beginning if you follow that one, and chances are you do, have more than enough reviews for me to continue them.

* * *

Tigress and Zhan caught up to the others at the top of a tall hill. They had stopped their show of affection at this point, and Zhan was carrying a small rabbit who had lost his mother. The mother of said rabbit came scurrying through the crowd shouting the name "Fu" and asking all she passed if they had seen her son. She came to the back of the group and saw her little Fu in Zhan's arms. "Fu!" She ran up to them.

"Mama!" The little rabbit hopped out of Zhan's arms and ran over to his mother.

They hugged each other and looked to Zhan, "Thank you," The mother said, "thank you so much for keeping my baby safe."

Zhan smiled, and was about to reply, but they all heard an explosion from the village. They looked back to see a wave of golden light washing over the valley. It reached them and the force of the wind nearly blew them off their feet. The Five, and Zhan, all shared glances, and rushed back to the village with the villagers following. Zhan tried to think of what could have caused an explosion like that. He then realized something. Po had not been with the rest of the villagers. He should've noticed it sooner, considering how Po stood out from the rabbits and pigs that were the main inhabitants of the village, but he had been distracted by Tigress. Not that he was blaming her, it was his own fault he hadn't noticed it, and there was no way he could change it, he just hoped that Po hadn't stayed to fight Tai Lung.

When they reached the village they saw, well, not much. There was a thick cloud of dust covering the village and they couldn't see much through it. When it started to settle though, they saw someone coming out of it, and it was Po. Zhan's jaw dropped, "Po?"

He stepped out of the dust, ""Hey,"

"What are you still doing here, and, what happened to Tai Lung?"

"Don't worry, Tai Lung won't be a problem anymore."

"What? Wait, you mean, you, you stopped Tai Lung?"

He just smiled and nodded.

Zhan worked his jaw soundlessly for a moment, and the Five just stared at Po in bewilderment. The villagers however, ran up to Po and tried to lift him up in celebration, when that failed, they settled for giving him a pat on the back and many congratulations and words of thanks and praise.

"Wow," Zhan finally spoke again, "I guess I underestimated you Po."

"Don't worry about it, I underestimated me too."

"As did we." Tigress stepped forward with the rest of the Five. They all bowed to him, "Master,"

"Master?" Po was found that a bit amusing, until he remembered who he had left at the palace, "Master Shifu!" He turned and ran up the steps on the side of the mountain back to the palace.

"Where's he going?" Tigress looked to Zhan.

He just shrugged.

* * *

Later, after Zhan and the Five found Po and Shifu in the kitchen of the Jade Palace, and Po had filled them in on what happened over some dumplings he made, they retired to their rooms for some much needed rest, with the exception of Zhan and Tigress, who snuck out after dark. They now lay together in the grass behind the palace gazing up at the stars.

"I've never done this before." Tigress listened carefully to the crickets chirping, watched intently the twinkle of each star, and stroked gently Zhan's hand in hers.

"I used to do this all the time when I was a cub." Zhan savored the feeling each time her thumb caressed his fur, every content sigh that escaped her lips, and the new light that shined in her eyes, "Never could find any of the constellations, though I never really looked. I just think it's peaceful to watch the stars."

"You seem to be watching me more than the stars."

She wasn't wrong about that, he was much more focused on her that any of the lights above, "Can you blame me? You're just so much prettier than they are."

Tigress blushed, possibly for the first time in her life, but her auburn fur hid it well, "I don't think anyone's ever said something like that to me."

"Really?" He was legitimately surprised by that statement, "Had you ever even been on a date before we had ours?"

She was silent for a long moment, "No, not once. Shifu didn't let me out much when I was younger, and when I got older, I don't know what happened. I just, I became so, so bitter, I thought love was something that only happened in fairy tales. I was always afraid that Shifu would end up arranging a marriage for me."

"He wouldn't do that to you."

Tears started to well up in her eyes, "Wouldn't he? I mean, what else am I good for to him? Nothing I do is good enough for him, nothing I do is ever right in his eyes, I'm not strong enough, not fast enough, not anything. He's never shown anything but contempt towards me, he, he..." As tears cascaded down her face she found it increasingly hard to speak, fortunately for her, Zhan decided to cut her off with a kiss.

When their lips parted he moved down to her neck, kissing it and nipping at her fur playfully.

Tigress smiled again let her head fall back into his palm so that he could continue his work. She moaned a little as he gently tugged at her fur, and giggled as he nuzzled and licked her cheek, "Okay okay, that's enough."

He ceased, seeing that he had accomplished his goal, "We should head back, it's getting late."

"Can't we just stay here for tonight?"

He chuckled, then proceeded to pick her up out of the grass and carry her back to the dormitories of the palace.


	11. Second chance

The sun rose on a new day. Shifu was standing in the hall ready to hear his students greet him as usual. "Good morning Master." Four of them chorused.

"Good morning students." He replied with a smile, which faded to a look of confusion, "Where's Tigress?" He opened the door to her room, she wasn't there, Zhan wasn't in his room either, nor was Po.

They searched for them, first in the kitchen, where they found Po. He was already up and making breakfast, which smelled exceptional. Crane, Viper, Mantis, and Monkey all gathered around the stove to see what he was making. It was simply porridge, but it didn't smell like it. Shifu cleared his throat to bring their attention back to him, "Well, whatever your making Po smells excellent, I hope there's enough for one extra today. I think I'll be joining you as soon as I find Tigress and Zhan, until then, enjoy the day students, you all have earned a break, which means you've got the day off." with that he walked off, leaving them with their stunned expressions.

He looked about the grounds for his two missing students, eventually coming to the peach tree. He heard them before he saw them. They were under the tree, Tigress laying her head in Zhan's lap, and he looking down at her, stroking the fur on her head, eliciting soft purrs from her. Shifu stopped as he reached the top of the hill, watching the precious sight.

Zhan leaned down an pecked her lips, "Tigress, I love you, but I'm getting hungry, and besides, I asked Po to prepare a special breakfast."

"Really? What kind of breakfast?" She purred.

"Porridge, with a few extra ingredients."

"Like?"

"Like peaches, from this tree," He looked up to the peach tree they were under, "just like you used to eat when you were a little girl."

"Now how do you know that?"

"Viper, she told me a few of your favorite foods the night we had our date."

"I'll have to thank her then, for helping you to save my life. You know, you really are a godsend. I don't think I'd even be alive right now if it weren't for you, and if I were it would hardly be a life worth living." She sat up and kissed him very passionately, "I owe you everything." She kissed him again and gently pushed him to the ground. She laid her head on his chest and cuddled close to him. She sighed, "Finally, after all these years, I have someone who wants to see me happy, and someone who makes it so."

Zhan smiled and wrapped his arms around her, "Maybe we could stay here a little longer."

"I'd like that."

Shifu decided it was best to head back to the kitchen, they could catch up when they were ready. He was so happy that his daughter had found someone like Zhan, but he heard what she said, and it hurt him deeply. She said that her life wasn't worth living till Zhan came along, and that he was the only one who ever wanted to see her happy. Was he really such a lousy father that she thought so little of herself? Who was he kidding, he had never shown her any affection, never told her he loved her, he always belittled her, never congratulated her on her achievements. He was no father to her, and it was too late to change what he had done, perhaps too late to make amends, but that wouldn't stop him from trying, after all, it still wasn't too late to tell her he loved her, and not too late to see her happy.

Shifu spent most of his time lost in thought during breakfast. The others talked amongst themselves, occasionally asking him questions, like where Tigress and Zhan were, and he would reply halfheartedly, but for the most part he was silent, and his students really didn't know how to talk to him anyway. By the time Zhan and Tigress came down from the peach tree, Shifu had eaten and left, and the rest of the Five, and Dragon Warrior, were finishing up their meals.

Po saw them come in first, "Hey guys, what took you so long?"

They sat down next to each other at the end of the table. "We lost track of time." Zhan told him.

"Well it may be a little cold by now, but there's still plenty left." He gave them each a bowl.

Viper finished off the last of her porridge and put the bowl in the sink, "You two just missed Master Shifu, he joined us for breakfast." 

"He did?" Tigress was even more shocked by that then the others had been.

"Yeah," Crane continued, "he was awfully quite though."

"And he gave everyone the day off." Mantis finished.

As long as she had lived at the Jade Palace, Tigress wasn't sure Shifu had ever given her a day off, "That's, odd."

Monkey shrugged, "Yeah, but who's complaining?"

While she couldn't just shrug off his odd behavior, she certainly wasn't the one complaining about the day off.

After they finished eating they went their separate ways. Zhan went to see Shifu, while Tigress went to meditate. He reached Shifu's private quarters and knocked on the door, Shifu opened it a moment later, "Zhan, what are you doing here?"

"I need to speak with you." Zhan looked down at him soberly.

"Alright, come in." He stepped out of the doorway and let Zhan in.

"You were at the peach tree, weren't you."

Shifu took a few seconds to answer, surprised that Zhan knew he had been there, "Yes, yes I was."

"Then you heard what Tigress said, but you didn't hear everything."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the other night she confided in me what she'd been feeling for nearly her entire life, and it wasn't pretty."

Shifu flinched visibly, not sure he really wanted to hear this, "What, what did she say?"

"She said," He paused, not sure how to proceed, and not really wanting to, "Shifu, she said she wanted to kill herself."

Shifu's eyes went wide, and he clutched his chest, fearing a heart attack for a moment.

"She said that until I came along she considered it everyday. She said that she was going to go through with it very soon too, and that I came just in time to save her."

Tears started to trickle down from Shifu's eyes.

"Until I came she had never heard anyone say that they loved her and truly meant it. She needs to hear it from you though."

"I," He sniffled, "I know. I just..."

He cut him off, "Don't explain to me, just tell her how you feel."

He nodded and then went off to find Tigress again.


End file.
